Two Astronauts On Why You Should Visit Space Camp In Huntsville

Forbes

a day ago

These 2 became real astronauts after attending Space Camp as kids.
If you're seeking a travel experience that sparks your imagination and immerses you in the past, present, and future of space exploration, consider visiting Huntsville, Alabama. Known as Rocket City, this vibrant Southern hub is home to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center—and, more importantly, to the legendary Space Camp.
This is not a museum where you walk through exhibits and read plaques (though it does have one of the most impressive collections of space artifacts in the country). Space Camp is an experience—a hands-on, high-energy, simulator-filled adventure where guests of all ages can step into the boots of astronauts, engineers, and mission commanders. For kids, it's a chance to dream big. For adults, it's an opportunity to reconnect with childhood wonder, push limits, and learn something new. And for some, like Dr. Gretchen Green and Aymette Medina Jorge, it's a starting point for an actual journey to space.
Both women flew aboard Blue Origin's recent NS-32 mission. Both trace their achievements back to Space Camp.
Gretchen Green was just 12 years old when she first arrived in Huntsville in 1986. She would return three more times, eventually becoming a camp counselor. Today, she's not only a practicing radiologist and entrepreneur—she's also a board member of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center Education Foundation. The trajectory from camper to astronaut is not something she takes lightly.
'It felt like a magical place—where kids like me could step into roles usually reserved for adults and dive into big, complex ideas,' she says. 'At Space Camp, I told my counselor I wanted to be a mission commander. It was outside my comfort zone—but I wanted to lead.' She did, and she thrived, eventually earning awards like Outstanding Trainee and the Right Stuff Award. That mindset—of volunteering before you're ready, asking questions, and stepping into leadership—has stayed with her throughout her life and career.
While Green always dreamed of space, her path took a practical turn. She became a physician and didn't discover radiology, a tech-heavy, physics-driven specialty, until medical school. When the field's famously difficult physics exam loomed, she remembered her time at Space Camp. 'If science could get humans to the moon,' she thought, 'I could learn the physics I needed.'
Aymette Medina Jorge, a public school teacher from Texas, discovered Space Camp later in life through an educator program. Since then, she has brought groups of students year after year, sharing the same formative experiences that helped inspire her own career. Like Green, Jorge also joined the Blue Origin NS-32 crew, becoming part of the growing wave of civilian space travelers who first dared to dream in Huntsville.
It all started at Space Camp.
'They need to go and visit Space Camp,' she says of families and travelers considering a trip. 'It's part of your path to go to space. There were a lot of things I got from Space Camp that I am applying in my classroom right now.' She says the training helped her better translate STEM ideas into engaging activities for her students—and it gave her a new language for discussing space careers in ways that feel accessible and relatable.
Arriving in Huntsville, visitors are greeted by a towering Saturn V rocket that looms beside the highway like a monolith of American achievement. Inside the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, guests encounter everything from moon rocks and Apollo spacecraft to a newly redesigned Rocket Park that visually walks visitors through decades of space history. The recently restored Pathfinder shuttle is a striking photo op, and the Training Center's simulators make it easy to imagine yourself in a real launch scenario—even the mission control rooms buzz with purpose, not unlike the actual NASA facilities they emulate.
For Green, returning to the campus today is deeply personal. Her daughter—also a Space Camp alum—recently had the chance to interview the Polaris Dawn crew in front of campers. 'It was a full-circle moment,' Green says. 'That spirit of exploration, community, and generosity is alive and well—and it's what makes Space Camp so much more than just a place. It's a launchpad for life.'
Jorge describes the arrival even more viscerally. 'You are automatically going to be transported to space,' she says. 'When you see all the rockets in place, you think, 'Am I in a launchpad, and we're ready to go up?' You feel that energy, that enthusiasm, that good vibe. You know, 'I am in the right place to go to space right now.''
Today, the center offers programs for children, families, adults, and educators—each with varying levels of intensity, simulation, and training. The Adult Space Academy is especially popular with curious travelers, space enthusiasts, and even corporate teams seeking a leadership reset.
And 2025, designated Alabama's Year of Aviation, offers even more incentive to visit, with special exhibits and restored aircraft, including the T-38, SR-71 Blackbird, and F-14 Tomcat, adding depth to the experience.
After returning from space, both Green and Jorge spoke of how seeing Earth from above shifted their perspectives forever. 'To see the Earth from space changes your perspective,' Jorge says. 'You see this infinite black, and you see the Earth with that halo around it with this blue that is so beautiful. You realize two things. First, the greatness of God. And second, that the planet is so fragile. We have to take care of our home.'
For Green, the experience was both a culmination and a beginning. 'Going to space was the hardest goal I could imagine—and achieving it brought a joy that touches everything I do now. My kids were inspired to see me work so hard toward what some might call an impossible dream—and succeed.'
Whether you want to explore aviation history, rediscover your inner adventurer, or plant a seed of curiosity in the next generation, Huntsville's Space Camp is more than a vacation destination. It's a story you step into—and maybe one that changes your life.
As Green puts it: 'Whether you want to become an astronaut or pursue any bold purpose, Space Camp helps you believe in your ability to rise to the challenge.'
And sometimes, that belief is all it takes to reach the stars.